Offaly's young guns to feature in crunch Leinster Championship double header this Saturday

Minor hurlers take on Kilkenny while the U-20 footballers go head to head with Westmeath

Reporter:

Damian Moran

18 Jun 2018

Email:

damian@offalyexpress.ie

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O'Connor Park

Offaly's stars of the future in hurling and football will be in action this Saturday afternoon in O'Connor Park.

Offaly's minor hurlers take on Kilkenny in the Leinster Minor Hurling semi-final while the county's U-20 footballers will face Westmeath in the Leinster U-20 Football Championship quarter-final.

The minor hurling is down to throw-in at 1pm with the U-20 game scheduled for 3pm however there is the possibility of extra-time in both games.

The two sides were due to play in a double header last weekend but a late change to the fixtures saw the football clash with Louth switched to Sunday. The changes didn't affect either side as both put in superb performances to make it through to this weekend's games.

The Offaly minor hurlers accounted for Laois in their quarter-final last weekend on a scoreline of 2-19 to 1-13. Cathal Kiely accounted for 0-12 of the total while Cillian Sampson struck for 2-5. Offaly, who topped Tier 2 with three wins from three games, will face a stern test against a Kilkenny side who topped Tier 1 with a 100% record. However buoyed by their win over Laois, Offaly will be hopeful of making it to a first Leinster Minor Hurling Final since 2003.

The U-20 footballers had a comfortable win over Louth in their final group game on Sunday, winning on a scoreline of 2-16 to 1-7. Offaly's inside forward of Cian Johnson, Cian Farrell and Jack Darcy caused havoc scoring 1-12 of the total between them. Offaly dominated the first-half and were 2-10 to 0-2 ahead by the break.

This Saturday they will face Westmeath in the Leinster quarter-final. Westmeath overcame Wexford and Longford in their group games with their only defeat coming at the hands of Dublin.

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